Donald Trump 'asked Comey to shut down Flynn investigation'

Coming the day after charges that Trump disclosed sensitive information to the Russians last week, the new disclosure further rattled members of Congress.

One question is now gripping much of the US: Did President Donald Trump commit a crime in his first month in the Oval Office?

Despite the White House's denials, the Times described "the existence of Mr. Trump's request" for an investigative slowdown as 'the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump's associates and Russian Federation'. Former President Richard Nixon was also charged with the first three articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice in 1974 after he refused to release White House tape recordings containing important information regarding the Watergate scandal.

But the president took to Twitter to insist he had the "absolute right" to share "facts pertaining.to terrorism and airline flight safety" with Russian Federation.

Either claim on its own - that he divulged top-secret information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an Oval Office meeting, or that he pressed Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey to drop a probe into ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn - would plunge any White House into serious crisis.

Hours after reports surfaced stating President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian Federation, the New York Times, in its report, Tuesday, cited a memo by former FBI Director James Comey. The White House disputed the account.

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"While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn", the White House said in a statement. While the White House initially cited a Justice Department recommendation and Comey's very public handling of the Clinton email investigation as reasons, those explanations quickly shifted.

Comey had been overseeing investigations into the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russian Federation to tilt the 2016 election in his favor. The memo said Comey did not say anything about ending the investigation but agreed that Flynn is a "good guy". National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said the president's comments were "wholly appropriate".

The White House has grown suspicious about the volume and timing of the seemingly never-ending stream of leaks about the president, said one senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to reflect on the feeling inside the West Wing.

"Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump", said Israel's ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer.

The highly classified information about an Islamic State plot was collected by Israel, a crucial source of intelligence and close partner in the fight against some of the America's fiercest threats in the Middle East.

The spy is said to have tipped handlers off about an Islamic State plan to blow up a passenger plane headed for the U.S. by hiding a bomb in a laptop, said the station, quoting current and former USA officials.

Associated Press writers Vivian Salama and Jill Colvin contributed.

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